Curved front panel display carton



Sept. 6, 1966 v. R. PANTALONE CURVED FRONT PANEL DISPLAY CARTON 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 11, 1964 FIG.1

I I lit INVENTOR VINCENT R PANTALONE BY Wag z yfia ATTORNEYS i aiz M,

Sept. 6, 1966 v. R. PANTALONE CURVED FRONT PANEL DISPLAY CARTON 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 11, 1964 H U H INVENTOR VINCENT R. PANTA LONE ATTORNEYS Sept. 6, 1966 v. R. PANTALONE CURVED FRONT PANEL DISPLAY CARTON 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 11, 1964 FIG. 5

INVENTOR VINCENT R. PANTALONE ATTORNEYS Sept. 6, 1966 v. R. PANTALONEI CURVED FRONT PANEL DISPLAY CARTON 4 Sheets-Sheet Filed June 11, 196

INVENTOR VINCENT R. PANTALONE ATTORNEYS United States Patent I York Filed June 11, 1964, Ser. No. 374,450 8 Claims. (Cl. 206-4519) This invention relates to display cartons and particularly to a carton or box having one or more openings in the front face or wall and having within it a central display area with provision for supporting an article for example a glass bottle or other frangible container, in such a way as to make the article clearly visible.

The purposes of the invention are to provide a display carton which is somewhat larger than the product or container therein but which is so constructed that the size of the container can be clearly seen without opening the package thereby avoiding any deception in the packaging; to provide a carton which is of novel appearance and shape and yet can be marketed in the form of a collapsible blank that can be readily set up by the user; and to provide for the protection of the frangible contents against mechanical injury in handling.

In accordance with the invention a box or carton of this type is made from a one-piece blank arranged with conventional panels and having flap and end closure extensions, and also having an extension hinged to one end of the rear wall which can be folded against the inner surface of the rear wall, such extension being provided with wing members hinged thereto on its opposite sides and projecting forwardly and angularly to contact with the inner surfaces of the side walls to form the display area. The front and rear wall panels are connected together by side panels which have told or score lines extending centrally from end to end and also through the top and bottom closure flaps. The rear wall panel is rectangular and joined to the side panels by straight parallel fold lines, whereas the front wall panel is joined to the side panels by outwardly convex symmetrical fold lines, advantageously cut-score lines.

With this construction the front and rear wall panels can be folded into contact with each other by folding the side panels along their lengthwise score lines and when the thus collapsed blank is set up to form the carton the connections of the front wall panel to the side wall panels along the convex fold lines will cause the front wall panel to become dished or concave from top to bottom, the rear wall panel however remaining fiat.

The invention will be described in greater detail following the description of the accompanying drawings which show a carton constructed to display a bottle of glass or other breakable material. In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the outline of the blank from which the carton is made, the blank being viewed from its inner side and its opposite surface being printed, if desired, in one or more colors;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing the early steps in folding the blank;

FIG. 3 shows the blank after a subsequent folding operation;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the front of the completed collapsed blank in the form in which it is shipped to the user;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 55 of FIG. 4 but with the two sides slightly separated at the beginning of the first step in setting up the carton;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 5 but at the completion of the squaring up of the blank;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view of the lower portion of the carton to show the erection of the platform;

Fatented Sept. 6, 1966 FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the carton completely set up;

FIG. 9 is a view of the set up carton in front elevation with both the lower and upper portions broken away and shown in section;

FIG. 10 is a transverse section taken on line 10-10 of FIG. 9; and

FIG. 11 is a central vertical section taken on line 11 of FIGS. 9 and 10.

Referring first to FIG. 8 which shows the completely set up carton or box 1 of the present invention, it has a fiat or planar rear wall 2 and a front wall 3 which is concave from end to end, that is from top to bottom. The sides of the rear wall 2 are parallel to one another being rectangular in form whereas the sides of the front wall 3 are convex as indicated in FIG. 8 and also shown in FIG. 9. Also the side walls are straight and parallel at the back where they join the rectangular rear wall 2, but are convex at the front where they join the concave front wall 3. In this way an attractive carton or package is provided which has a unique and distinctive shape and appearance and at the same time provides a display container for an article such as a bottle, or other product which requires protection against mechanical damage during shipment and handling.

The carton 1 is formed from a blank shown in plan view in FIG. 1 and indicated generally by reference numeral 4. Blank 4 has a rectangular rear wall panel member 5 which is bounded on its side and bottom edges by score lines 6, 7 and 8 respectively and which forms the rear wall 2 of the carton. The blank also has a front wall panel 9 forming front Wall 3 of the carton. Panel 9 is bounded on its opposite sides by outwardly convex cut score lines 10 and 11 which intersect straight and parallel score lines 12 and 13 at the top and bottom respectively.

The two side wall panels are similar, panel 14 being bounded by straight score line 6 and convex cut score line 10. The opposite side wall panel 15 is bounded by cut score line 11 and the outer edge 16 which is straight and parallel with score lines 6 and 7. Each of the side panels 14 and 15 is divided by means of a central score line indicated at 17 and 18 respectively. These two score lines divide the two side Walls into substantially equal width sections, inner sections 14a and 15a and outer sections 14b and 15b.

At the upper ends of side walls 14 and 15 there are top closure flaps 19 and 20 respectively, and at the lower ends there are bottom closure flaps 21 and 22. The central score lines 17 and 18 extend through these top and bottom closure flaps dividing them also into sections 19a and 19b, 20a and 20b, and 21a and 21b, 22a and 22b.

A front wall top closure flap 23 is hinged thereto along score line 12, and a bottom closure flap 24 is hinged along the lower score line 13. Closure flaps 23 and 24 are provided at their outer ends respectively with tuck-in tabs 25 and 26. Front wall panel 9 is provided with lower and upper windows 27 and 28 in the form of generally crescent-shaped openings which will be referred to later on. The rear panel 5 of the blank has projecting from its lower edge an extension member indicated generally by reference numeral 29. This extension is substantially narrower than panel 5 but has a base portion 30 of the same width as this panel and which is connected thereto along score line 8, thus giving to extension 29 a general T-shape. The opposite sides of the upright portion of the T-shaped extension 29 are alternatively creased and perforated along lines 31 and 32 and wing portions 33 and 34 are connected thereby to the extension.

Extension 29 is provided with an enlarged head portion 35 connected thereto along score line 36. Centrally of this head portion there is a cross score line 37 which 3 divides the head portion into halves. The outer half 38 has glue applied to it and is folded along line 37 and glued to the inner half as a preliminary step in folding the blank, thereby doubling the thickness and strength of the head portion which is provided with an aperture 39 (FIG. 2) for suspending the carton as will appear later.

The left-hand edge of rear panel 5 is provided with a glue flap 40 which is hinged thereto along score line 7, the glue being applied to its opposite face as viewed in FIG. 1.

The lower closure flap sections 21a and 22a at the bottom of the blank are provided with extension strips 41 and 42 respectively. These are hinged to the closure flap sections along score lines 43 and 44, and each is divided into 3 sections, an outer section 45, an intermediate section 46 and an inner section 47.

It is important to ship the carton in a condition in which it is collapsed to make it as thin as possible so that. the collapsed blanks may be shipped in compact packages to the user. The completely collapsed carton or carton blank is shown face up in FIG. 4 and indicated generally by reference numeral 48. In order to fold the blank 4 of FIG. 1 to this condition, after the preliminary step of folding the glued outer half 38 of head portion 35 on to the lower half as previously mentioned, the next step is to fold extension 29 about score line 8 through an angle of 180 and into fiat contact with the inner surface of rear panel 5. This is shown in FIG. 2 where it will be seen that the right-hand wing 33 overlies outer panel section 14b of the carton side panel but its edge 49 is spaced from the central fold line or crease 14. Also the lefthand wing 34 overlies glue flap 40, and its edge 59 may be substantially in alignment with the edge 51 of this glue flap.

In addition to this folding operation, the two extension strips 41 and 42 are folded about score lines 43 and 44 respectively. Prior to such folding however, a pad glue operation applies glue to the rectangular areas 51' and 51" on the inner surfaces of the respective inner sections 14a and a of the carton side walls. Consequently when the strip extensions 41 and 42 are folded their outer sections 45 are glued to these inner side wall sections at the glue areas 51 and 51". The blank 4 with the folding operations just mentioned completed is shown in FIG. 2.

The next folding operation is to turn the rear wall 5 about fold line 17 through an angle of 180 thereby bringing the extension 29 and its wings 33 and 34 into contact with the inner surface of front wall 9 as shown in FIG. 3. The surface of glue tab 40 to which the glue has been applied now faces upwardly, and the outer section 15b of the carton side wall .15 is folded in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 3 about score line 18 and permanently glued to glue tab 40. Inasmuch as glue tab 40 is narrower than side wall section a, the edge of glue tab 40 and the edge 50 of wing 34, which are in alignment with one another, are spaced from score line 18. Hence the edges 49 and 50 of wing members 33 and 34 are also spaced from score line 18. This completes the formation of the collapsed blank 48 except that in FIG. 4, it has been turned face up, it being understood that the front wall 9 and the rear wall 5 are pressed as close together as possible so that the collapsed blank will occupy a minimum space.

The collapsed carton blank 48 is set up or squared up to form the carton It of FIG. 8 in the following manner:

Forces are applied in opposite directions as shown by the arrows in FIG. 5 to the side edges of blank 48 formed by the opposite central score lines or fold lines 17 and 18, either by the fingers or by the mechanism of an automatic setting-up machine. Such pressure, due to the angularity even in the fiat condition of FIG. 4 of the sidewall sections 14a, 14b and 15a, 15b causes the rear and front wall panels 5 and 9 respectively to be forced apart as shown in FIG. 5. Continued application of such pressure brings the blank to the position shown in FIG. 6, this view being a section taken above the center of the carton and along the same line 55 as FIG. 5. During this squeezing action on the opposite sides of the carton blank the front wall panel 9 is, by the convex cut score lines 10 and 11 which connect it to the front side wall sections 19a and 20a respectively, forced into a concave position such as shown in FIGS. 8 and 11 and also in FIGS. 6 and 10. Inasmuch as FIG. 4 shows the collapsed blank face up, that is, with the front wall uppermost, the joint between glue flap 40 and the outer side wall section 15b is at the left as may be seen from FIG. 5, hence side wall sections 14a and 14b are at the right. When the carton is completely set up as shown in FIGS. 6, 9, 10 and 11, thus bending the front wall panel 9 to concave position, the central portion 52 of this wall between the arcuate windows 27 and 28 remains flat as shown particularly in FIGS. 6, 10 and 11 inasmuch as there are no forces tending to bend the upper edges of this central portion. How ever, the portions 53 and 54, below and above the two windows are displaced forwardly of the central portion 52. Also the lower curved edge 55 of the lower arcuate window 27 curves outwardly in front of the central portion 52 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 10. The same is true of the upper edge 56 of the upper window 28 (see FIG. 11).

After pressure has been applied to the side edges, that is, the central fold lines 17 and 18, to square up the main body of the carton, the next step is the folding of the bottom closure flaps. The side closure flaps 21 and 22 are closed first. The inner and outer sections of each being closed as a unit, that is, folded to horizontal position.

From FIGS. 1 and 2 it will be remembered that extension strips 41 and 42 were folded against the inner surfaces of the inner side panel sections 14a and 15a, and their upper end portions 45 as viewed in FIG. 2 glued thereto at 51 and 51". Therefore when the bottom closure flaps 21 and 22, including their inner sections 21a and 22a are folded upwardly as shown in FIG. 7 the parts swing as parallelograms portions 46 on each side moving parallel with the flap sections 21a and 220. When the latter have been raised to horizontal position, the sections 46 will also be horizontal as shown in FIGS. 9 and 11.

Together these members constitute a platform to support the contents of the carton such for example as the bottle 57 shown in the dot-and-dash outline. Because of the curvature of the convex front wall 9, the portions 47, 46 and 45 of the extension strips are cut back as indicated at 58 in FIG. 11. After the folding of extension strips 41 and 42 just described the front wall bottom flap 24 is folded to horizontal position outside of the side closure flaps 21 and 22, and its tuck-in tab 26 is inserted in position adjacent the rear of the carton as shown in FIG. 11. In squaring up the collapsed blank 48 in the manner previously described the unfolding of the side wall sections 14a, 14b, and 15a, 15b from the position of FIG. 4 to the position of FIGS. 6-11, the two wing members 33 and 34 are swung outwardly about their hinge lines 31 and 32 so that their forward edges 49 and 50 bear against the respective side wall sections 15b and 14b in proximity to the longitudinal fold lines 17 and 18. Thus as shown more particularly in FIG. 10 these surfaces form with the front wall of the carton a central display area or pocket to receive the display articles, such as the bottle 57. As shown in FIG. 10 the bottle is cushioned at the front against the flat central portion 52, the entire front wall being resilient on account of its concave form. It is cushioned at the rear by the central portions of wings 33 and 34 respectively.

Wing members 33 and 34 are beveled as indicated at 58 at their lower corners so as to clear the platform members 46. At their upper ends wings 33 and 34 have tapering extensions or ears 59 extending above the hinge connections 31 and 32 to the extension member 29. The inner surfaces of these extensions have sloping edges 60 which when bent forward are approximately parallel with similar sloping edges 61 which bound the lower sides of head portion 35 when the head portion is in position within the carton as shown in FIGS. 9 and 11.

Before closing the top of the carton head portion 35 is bent to .a forward position as shown in FIG. 11 at an angle of nearly 45 to the horizontal, and with the upper end of the head portion received at the front corner of the box adjacent the hinge of front wall top flap 23. This flap is then bent forwardly and downwardly to 'hori- Zontal position and its tuck-in flap 25 inserted adjacent the rear panel 5.

The display area or pocket containing the contents such as bottle 57 is bounded at the bottom by the supporting platform numbers 46, at the sides by wing members 33 and 34 and at the top by the sloping surface of head member 35. The bottom of the bottle 57 is visible through the lower window area 27, and the top of the bottle through the upper window area 28 so the fact that the bottle is of smaller dimensions than the display carton will be apparent to the purchaser.

Should it be desirable for the carton to be suspended as for example on a display rack, the front top flap 23 may be raised and head portion 35 swung to upright position shown in dot and dash lines in FIG. 11, and the top flap returned to its horizontal position with tuck-in flap 26 pressed against the surface of the head member to hold it in upright position. The suspending aperture 39 in the head member will then be above the top of the carton.

I claim:

1. A rectangular display carton having a front wall with a window therein, a rear wall spaced therefrom and side walls, the rear wall having an extension hinged to the bottom edge thereof and folded against the inner surface of the rear wall, the central portion of said extension being substantially narrower than said rear wall and having lateral wing members hinged thereto on its opposite sides, said wing members projecting forwardly in symmetrical relation to the said extension and at obtuse angles thereto, their edges contacting the inner surfaces of the side walls, said wings and the front wall providing a cushioning support for the sides of an article placed in the carton, each of said side walls having a central lengthwise score line extending from the top to the bottom thereof enabling the carton to be folded to a col lapsed condition with the side walls folded outwardly along said score lines and enclosing the edges of the wing members.

2. A display carton as set forth in claim 1 having in addition platform means for supporting an article in dis play position with respect to said window comprising a pair of strips, one projecting from the front section of each of the bottom closure flaps, the outer end portions of such strips each being glued to the inner surface of the respective inner side wall panels, and said strips having score lines causing the remainder thereof to be folded into rectangular position when the closure flaps from which they project are folded to closed position.

3. A rectangular display carton having a front wall with a window therein, a rear wall spaced therefrom and side walls having top and bottom closure flaps, the bottom flaps each having a central lengthwise score line dividing the flap into front and rear sections, and platform means for supporting an article in display position with respect to saidwindow comprising a pair of strips, one projecting from the front section of each of the bottom closure flaps, the outer end portions of such strips each being glued to the inner surface of the respective side walls, and said strips having score lines causing the remainder thereof to be folded into rectangular position when the closure flaps from which they project are folded to closed position.

4. A display carton having a fiat rectangular rear Wall, a front wall which is concave in the lengthwise direction and has convex front side edges, side and front walls each having top and bottom closure flaps, each of the side walls and their closure flaps being divided into front and rear sections, the rear sections of the side walls being straight at the back where they join the rectangular rear wall and the front sections of the side walls being convex along their front side edges where they join the concave front wall, the rear wall having an extension hinged to its bottom edge and folded against the inner surface of the rear wall, the extension having equal width lateral wing members hinged thereto at its opposite sides, the wing members projecting forwardly and angularly in symmetrical relation to said extension and with their edges contacting the inner surface of the front sections of the side wall panels and forming with the front wall an article-receiving pocket.

5. A display carton as set forth in claim 4 wherein the span of the opposite edges of the wing members when lying in the plane of the extension is less than the distance between the score lines of the side walls when the carton is collapsed.

6. A rectangular display carton as set forth in claim 4 wherein the front wall has a window therein, platform means supporting the bottom of the article at an elevation such that it may be seen through the lower portion of the window, and means at the upper portion of the article pocket to position the upper part of the article so that it is visible through the upper portion of the window.

7. A rectangular display carton as set forth in claim 6 wherein the platform means comprises a pair of strips, one projecting from the front section of each of the closure flaps at the bottom of the side walls, the outer end portions of such strips being glued to the inner surface of the respective inner side wall panels and said strips having score lines causing the remainder thereof to be folded into rectangular position when the closure flaps from which they project are folded to closed position.

8. A rectangular display carton set forth in claim 6 wherein a head portion is provided .at the upper end of the extension having the hinged wings, the head portion having an aperture for suspending the carton, said head portion, in one position, engaging the inner surface of the top closure flap and being held in a forwardly inclined position by such flap when closed, and in a second position the head portion extending vertically upward between the carton rear wall and the surface of the tuck-in tab for the said closure flap, the said suspending aperture being exposed above the top of the carton in said second position of the head portion.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,019,250 10/ 1935 Collins 20645.19 2,050,894 8/1936 Paige 229-8 2,457,107 12/1948 Verner 229-27 2,808,977 10/ 1957 McCormick 229-14 3,078,989 2/ 1963 Curran et al. 20665 THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner.

W. T. DIXSON, Assistant Examiner. 

3. A RECTANGULAR DISPLAY CARTON HAVING A FRONT WALL WITH A WINDOW THEREIN, A REAR WALL SPACED THEREFROM AND SIDE WALLS HAVING TOP AND BOTTOM CLOSURE FLAPS, THE BOTTOM FLAPS EACH HAVING A CENTRAL LENGTHWISE SCORE LINE DIVIDING THE FLAP INTO FRONT AND REAR SECTIONS, AND PLATFORM MEANS FOR SUPPORTING AN ARTICLE IN DISPLAY POSITION WITH RESPECT TO SAID WINDOW COMPRISING A PAIR OF STRIPS, ONE PROJECTING FROM THE FRONT SECTION OF EACH OF THE BOTTOM CLOSURE FLAPS, THE OUTER END PORTIONS OF SUCH STRIPS EACH BEING GLUED TO THE INNER SURFACE OF THE RESPECTIVE SIDE WALLS, AND SAID 